Bloodscream can absorb the life forces of others by touch, withering them to a mummy-like state as they bleed uncontrollably from the point they were touched. Those who survive his touch receive a red scar in the shape of his hand, whilst those that die he can transform into mindless zombies to do his bidding. Bloodscream can use the life force he absorbs to enhance his strength to undetermined superhuman levels as well as to heal any injury.
Although apparently invulnerable to any mortally-created weapon, Bloodscream can be harmed, and presumably slain, by weapons forged by non-human means.

Born in the mid-16th Century, the man who would become Bloodscream was a naval surgeon in Sir Francis Drake's fleet. Mortally wounded in battle, he was taken by Drake to a sorcerer named Dagoo to save his life but was instead transformed into a vampire-like creature. Doomed to a macabre existence, Bloodscream learned his condition could only be reversed with an elixir distilled from the blood of a man who does not age. Bloodscream set out to locate such a man and became a soldier, hoping to encounter fellow immortals on the battlefield.

After centuries of combat, Bloodscream fought in the Battle of Normandy in 1944 during which he encountered a Canadian soldier named Logan. Decades later, Bloodscream joined the Asgardian brawler Roughouse as enforcers for the crimelord General Coy on the island nation of Madripoor. Under Coy's orders, the pair clashed with rival crimelord Tyger Tiger and her ally Logan, now the mutant adventurer Wolverine. Seeing that his foe had not aged since their last encounter, Bloodscream believed he could use Wolverine’s blood in his elixir. After numerous encounters with Wolverine, they had what was almost their final encounter in the snowy wilderness of Canada. After draining the blood from his cybernetic partner Cylla, Bloodscream faced Wolverine (who was virtually powerless after his last encounter with Magneto), but was unaware of the weapon which Wolverine had in his possession, the demonically-forged Honor Sword of the Clan Yashida. Wolverine ran him down on his motorcycle and apparently killed the centuries-old vampire with the sword.

However, Bloodscream survived by draining nearby life energy and subsequently allied himself with the sorcerer Belasco. After clashing with the team of mutant adventurers known as the X-Men, whose number included Wolverine, Bloodscream was sucked into another dimension. Returning to Earth under unrevealed circumstances, Bloodscream was reunited with Roughouse. The pair were recruited as enforcers by the South American crimelord named the Black Tarantula who set them against both Wolverine and the costumed crimefighter Spider-Man.

Later, Bloodscream came under the control of the cannibalistic sorcerer Mauvais. Alongside the savage criminal Vermin, he again fought Wolverine but met defeat once more. Mauvais was subsequently exiled into the dimension of the Great Beasts of Canada, presumably freeing Bloodscream from his control.